Ion 417: Raiju

by James Darcey

  The shrieks died away quickly, and he set the end of the rifle on the ground. He then waved to them with the slightest sound of that staccato chirp coming out. I have to give him credit for putting on a good showing; he even stood still as they walked slowly around poking gently at his arms and outfit.

  Before they could get around to poking his eyes that they thought were plastic, Lafiel popped up her image on the holo. Instead of the normal life-sized one she had opted for making herself about a meter tall standing on the end of the counter. Everyone was so distracted by the holo that they didn't notice Traxel disappearing into his stateroom. Lafiel even took it in good nature, and pretended to be tickled when the girl poked her finger into the holo. I translated questions back and forth for about a half hour before the children noticed the time.

  Hiro, the boy, had looked at a little chrono he had strapped to his arm. He grabbed Sai's arm to remind her that their mother would be worried about them. When they had seen the ship come down, they had simply run after it without telling her where they were going. They had to return before she got too angry with them. At their insistence I agreed to travel with them and meet their parents. Perhaps with the aid of the children, I could avoid a bad first meeting with the adults.

  The walk down the overgrown path was pleasant. There was a constant stream of information about their town of Izumo after they found out I hadn't even been there. I learned such important items as the best fish comes from Inugama's stand, where he gives a small treat to the children. The comment that Ami, a girl from their school, lived four houses down the street from them, and she liked Hiro brought a brief round of poking between them.

  I was in the midst of hearing the details of Hiro's anime figures when we arrived. The home was a nice two-level place surrounded by a small walled courtyard. A lovely tree occupied one corner of the courtyard. Its branches were draped in a multitude of colored ribbons. It gave a festive appearance to the whole residence. The arch over the gate bore the family name: Masema. Hiro and Sai joined in to point that out proudly. I was busy taking in every detail.

  We entered the house where I followed their example and removed my boots at the doorway. The inside of the house looked in far better condition than the outside. The outside was nice, but had shown its age in little ways. Faded paint, and chips on the corners of bricks told how this home had stood here for a long time. Steady maintenance had kept it from falling into disrepair.

  The inside had been painted more recently, and every bit of it was polished. The small entrance area was tiled, with pegs jutting from the wall near the entrance to hold outer wear. The rest of the house had polished wood floors that felt comforting on my feet. Everywhere I looked were simple decorations that gave it a feeling of peaceful life. I thought back to how the decorations had been in the stateroom Teyrn had used. He had several things in there, but none of it felt like life. Even the wardrobe in my cabin that was wood seemed but an imitation of life; here I was feeling the life soak up through the soles of my feet.

  My guides ran ahead calling loudly for their mother. I slowly followed the voices around a corner and toward the rear of the dwelling. I found them tugging at the arm of a woman who's back was turned toward me. For a moment I flashed back to a scene of me doing the same thing to my mother. It was a scene that had never existed, and never would. I had been robbed of that.

  "Mom! We met an actress. She's real nice too. They're filming the 'Invasion of Kluthu' up the hill, and she just got in town."

  "She can stay in Tsukune's room, can't she mom? She hasn't got a hotel, and it's going to be full."

  She didn't turn from her task as she replied, "But I haven't met her. We can discuss this after I get dinner fixed. Your father will be home soon."

  I could see now that she was cutting vegetation into a pan. It reminded me of the eating places I'd seen on Rage where they heat it over an actual flame. The memory of those smells came back to me. It may have seemed a bit primitive, but the food held a flavor that was wonderful. The only other food I'd seen on this planet had been that tray in the hospital. It hadn't brought any fond memories with its blandness. I'm somewhat glad to have missed it as my first meal on my homeworld.

  Hiro announced, "She's right behind you!"

  There was an exclamation as the knife was laid on the counter. She dried her hands off on a towel nearby as she turned around.

  The woman bowed slightly with her greeting, "Please forgive me! I didn't know they had brought you with them. Hirohito! Saiyuki! Get the table set for our guest as well. You will join us for dinner?"

  She had made it both as a statement and a question, as though she was being polite, but refusal wasn't an option. There was more that she wanted to say. That was obvious with the look in her eyes. I didn't mind the implied assumption in her words. The smell of the food had awakened my stomach into thinking it needed sustenance. I agreed to stay if she would allow me to assist. This pleased her, and yet she refused my offer, still insisting I join them for dinner. Even with the offer of joining them for the meal I could see something troubled her. With my acceptance she leaned down to whisper a question to Hiro.

  "We told you; it's because they are filming the movie. She's a space hero. You ought to see her space ship; it looks so real!"

  "The children will show you where to clean up before the meal."

  I was led back to a small room with the Human version of sanitary services. They waited patiently as I washed, and asked why my coloring wasn't coming off. The only thing I could think of, was to tell them that it needed to stay on looking as I did. Not an outright deception, but sufficient to divert from the truth. I would tell them the truth, but in small doses. I had come too far to lose it all by saying the wrong thing. There was no way to stop the truth, but I needed it to come out right.

  The table was low, with little pads to kneel on. I was on one side next to Saiyuki, and Hirohito was across from us. Their mother was at the one end of the table, leaving the other end vacant. We spent five minutes in this fashion as they cast glances at me in silence. I was starting to get nervous myself from the tension I could feel. Their mother was anxious about something, and my presence seemed to add to that situation. At least it seemed that way from the glances she cast at me.

  I was tempted to call Lafiell to discover if anything had happened when I realized that my comm was sitting on the counter in the common room. I knew she was going to scold me terribly the next chance she had, but my musings were interrupted by a ringing sound in the next room.

  With a quick apology, Mrs. Masema hurried into the next room, and from the hushed one-sided conversation I could tell that she had talked to someone on the communication unit. A moment later when she returned her relief was evident. Whoever 'he' was that we were waiting for had been slightly delayed. He would be here within another few minutes.

  It all became clear those few minutes later when front door could be heard opening. With a cry of 'He's home' the children both jumped up to run and greet him. Hiro and Sai were each trying to talk louder than the other as they dragged their father toward the dining room. He shrugged their grip loose long enough to wash his hands, promising to explain his tardiness over dinner.

  While they were busy trying to tell him all the details, Sakura was bringing the pots of food to the table. She brushed my offers to assist aside, telling me that guests didn't need to help in her house. Once again I had to patiently wait for other people to do things. His steps faltered as he walked through the door and caught sight of me. I must really be more noticeable than I thought. The children saved me the trouble of introducing myself, and I had to apologize that Ion was the only name that I could give him. Hiro's explanation of my being an actress seemed to justify the whole story.

  Akita Masema introduced himself as a security man working for a large company in the main city of Sendai that specialized in technology. Jun had pointed me to the right spot after all! Sakura spent her days mending clothing for many of the local people
, when she wasn't doing the domestic chores around the house. Hirohito and Saiyuki were students in the local school. They hadn't decided on a major course of study as yet.

  The family had one other child, but he wasn't living at home. Tsukune, their older son was away in school. His study plan was to learn enough engineering to get hired at the company Akita worked for. He was currently working at bakery to pay his way through a school in Tokyo.

  With the introductions done, Akita finally explained the reason for his being late arriving at home. He had been delayed on his way home due to a police search. There had been reports of someone dressed as an Oni terrorizing the roads on a motorbike. They had reportedly captured one of them, but were searching to try and find others. They didn't believe someone would do this alone.

  I nearly choked on the water I was drinking as I realized the implications of his words. This world wasn't familiar with visiting Kanari and would likely label them as demons. Motorbike could easily refer to the hover cycle. What would they do when they realized his mask didn't remove? I had to do something, as I was sure they were talking about Panzo. I begged Mr. Masema to take me to this police station so that I could help my friend. I explained that he was another of my companions and would have great difficulty since he couldn't even speak Japanese. The children joined in the pleading telling him that he had to help me; I was a guest in their house.

  "His appearance could easily be misunderstood, and if they try to remove his head it could cause serious problems. He would be unable to even tell them where he was from, and I need him safe."

  Of course my outburst only created a bit more confusion. Now I was forced to tell about how he had the look of a dog man for the holo vid we were doing. It might take a very long time before someone else came to help him. He agreed to help, but worried what impression it would make if his employers found out he had connections to someone the police had arrested. Sakura assured him they would not find out, and none of the neighbors would say anything if they wanted to keep utilizing her talents. They were bound to help a guest of their house.

  The situation suddenly dawned on me, "If I try to go to the police authorities looking like this, they will wonder."

  Sakura smiled, "Not to worry; that can be fixed easily."

  She had some white cream that covered my face completely. She used a little paint to make my lips bright red. Gloves and a hat finished the transformation. It was very strange that white skin was accepted, but green wasn't.

  I had a difficult time sitting still in the transport on the way to the police building. Sakura reassured me that everything would be fine. I thanked her for her assistance; I have no idea what I would have done without it. I probably would have had Lafiel locate him, and then zap the police unconscious to rescue him. That would almost certainly have led to more problems though. I'm sure it would have been better than letting Lafiel knock down a few walls with the particle accelerator cannon.

  At the police substation we met with one of the duty officers. I had to explain that Panzo didn't speak Japanese and wouldn't understand what was happening. The officer demanded to see my identification before I could even talk to Panzo. I had a good one for that. There's no way that news of us had reached this far yet, so I reached into the purse I carried and pulled out the ID crystal cube. Better to be a Flux Genetics director than a nobody. I dropped the cube into his hand, and he stared at it a moment.

  "Is this a joke? What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

  How stupid could I be? First letting Panzo ride off on the hover bike when I'm responsible for the Kanari's life, and then thinking that I could use a holocube in a place that had never heard of them. Of course I hadn't seen them before getting boarded by Reliance Guards.

  I had to ask Akita if he would show his identification. I promised that I would make it right if any trouble happened. I had no identification with me. With the display of his identification they brought out Panzo. They had placed shackles on his wrists and legs, as though he was some dangerous monster.

  The officer chimed in with another reason that tempted me to hit him with a bolt, "I don't know what language he speaks, but it isn't Japanese. We were just about to shave the fur so that we could find the fasteners to his costume."

  "Oh, you can't do that! He... uh... needs to look like that for the movie."

  "Publicity stunt or not, he can't go racing through town scaring people!"

  An hour long negotiation resulted in them agreeing to release him on two conditions. The first was that he never try to repeat the prank, and the second was a fine of twenty thousand yen. Twenty thousand? I had no idea how much gold traded for yen, but even at ten to one I would be very short on currency. The price seemed to be a large amount. I had only brought about fifteen of the coins in my pouch. Shopping had not been on my list when I left the ship to lay in the grass at sunset.

  I pulled Sakura aside to quietly explain my predicament. I told her that I hadn't had an opportunity to exchange my traveling money for local currency. I showed her a handful of coins and asked if this was enough to release him. I wasn't sure what the exchange rate was. If more was needed I could get more with a trip to my place. She gasped at the sight of the gold coins and quickly closed my hand over them. She paused for a minute in thought before opening my hand and lifting ten of them.

  She gave me a stern look, "I will take care of this, but you will tell truth when we return home."

  I could tell that she knew a great deal, but would wait for the answers. Sakura pulled up a smile, and turned to the waiting officer, asking to see the police lieutenant. Sakura entered his office and closed the door to speak to him alone. She was in there for about twenty minutes before the door opened, and the lieutenant ordered the release of Panzo. I started to ask what she had done, but she shook her head side to side.

  Panzo followed along behind Akita's transport on the hover cycle. When we arrived back at the house, there were eager faces pressed against the windows on the upper floor, waiting to hear what had happened. I sent Panzo walking back up the trail to the ship, telling him to avoid running into any more of the local people.

  "Tell Lafiel and Traxel that I'm safe for now. I need to settle things here."

  "Very well, Captain Ion. I'm really sorry that I messed this up for you. Keep the bike here in case you need a fast getaway. It can outrun these local badgers; they just had a block across the road and I didn't shift into hover soon enough."

  "Maybe it'd be best if I had your comm until I get back to the ship."

  The children were still waiting when we entered the house, but they reluctantly went off to bed at their mother's insistence. It took a little coaxing, and warnings about being late to school before they vanished behind closed doors. I was very glad that she had sent them away; I didn't want to dash their thoughts of me just yet.

  Mr. Masema broke the tension as Sakura went off to prepare some tea, "So, who is he really?"

  Sakura called from the kitchen, "Akita! It will wait a few minutes."

  I started to answer him, only to be met by a glare and shaking head. His glance at the kitchen door told me that it would be useless to talk until Sakura arrived with the tea. She was still waiting for the slow process of the heated water.

  I silently counted seven minutes and nineteen seconds until she came through the door bearing a tray of small cups. Her movements were slow and measuredly deliberate as she filled each cup to set before us- her mate first, then me, and her own last.

  Instinct told me that I should follow Mr. Masema's example of waiting until she was finished before lifting the cup before me. With one final bow from her kneeling position, she broke the silence.

  "You gave me a promise to tell who you are."

  Mr. Masema gaped at her, "What do you mean? Who is she?" Then turning his hard gaze my direction, he shifted the focus to me, "You shared a meal in my house."

  I cut him off with a soft wave: "I know..." I sighed, not sure what to tell them, "My name rea
lly is Ion; it's the only name I have. I'm not an actress though. I'm not even sure what an actress is. It is true that I just arrived today after a long journey."

  Sakura held her fist out over the table, "I could tell that you weren't from anywhere in Japan."

  With those words she dropped the ten coins on the table, one after the other, letting the thud of each strike a dull punctuating sound. Akita sat there in silence watching them fall. His mouth hung open in mid-word. The last coin rolled in a few circles before falling over.

  Sakura continued before I could form a reply, "I collected coins as a child. Those have markings that I've never seen before. Just as you had no idea of their value, those ten are worth a few million Yen -- maybe more."

  I took a deep breath, gathering the courage to place myself in their trust. They had shown me kindness and hospitality without question. Without their aid Panzo would still be locked up in the police cage. I owed it to them to be honest. Also, I was more likely to find my family if I had their help. I was so close now.

  "My story will be difficult to believe from everything I have learned so far, but it is true. I am from a long distance away, and just this day came to this place."

  Mr. Masema picked up on the words, "You mean more than just coming to Sendai, or even Japan for that matter. Correct?"

  I sighed with the thought of placing so much trust in people I barely knew, "My mother was taken from a place called Yellowstone. I grew up knowing nothing about her, or even Terra. I traveled from many light years away in search of her family. I came to Japan seeking my mother's family. Yes, Panzo is a Kanari from a planet called Reliance, and he really looks that way.